


5 Times Peter Needed Tony and the 1 Time Tony Needed Him

by HeyItsJoeKeerysHair



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I used italics way too much, I wrote this because infinity war killed me, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Sensory Overload, Tony Stark Has A Heart, iron dad all the way, seriously way too much fluff, tony is such a dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-09 10:16:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14714172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeyItsJoeKeerysHair/pseuds/HeyItsJoeKeerysHair
Summary: Peter was used to struggling through life alone, but he didn't expect a certain billionaire to take such an interest in him.orA bunch of one-shots about Tony Stark being a dad.I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS AFTER INFINITY WAR. This is a spoiler-free zone, but a place for me to vent all of my feelings about Tony and Peter’s relationship after IW. Warnings: major fluff, angst, and whump ahead, because apparently, that’s how I cope.





	1. Sensory Overload

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to apologize in advance for this entire work. Peter and Tony's father/son relationship gives me life.

_Sensory Overload_

Peter’s spider senses were great most of the time. They helped him see clearer, hear sharper, and sense danger. All great things when trying to catch the bad guy.

But sometimes they completely sucked. 

This day in particular. Peter woke with a pounding headache and could feel every fiber of the scratchy sheets beneath him. He could hear the neighbors’ tap running straight through the walls, and the soft hum of aunt May coming from the kitchen sounded like the front row of a metal concert. 

Peter pushed himself out of bed, instinctively squeezing his eyes shut when that only worsened his headache. His vision momentarily swam as he steamed himself on the desk.

Today was Friday which meant he had school and then headed to Stark Tower for his “internship.” As much as he wanted to go back to bed and sleep the headache off, Peter had an insanely important history test today. One he had been studying for constantly the past two weeks. He could take a couple of hours of school. It was just a little headache. After all, he was _Spiderman;_ he could handle this. 

Boy was he wrong. 

————————————————————

An hour into the first period, Ned was nervously glancing over at his friend who held his head in his hands. 

“Hey, Peter. You okay, man?” Ned was whispering, but Peter still visibly flinched at the sound of his voice.

Peter only nodded his head slightly. Ned wouldn’t have caught the motion if he hadn’t been studying him. 

By the time class ended twenty minutes later, Peter was visibly shaking and looked like he could lose the contents of his stomach at any moment. 

The rest of the class began to gather their things and filter out of the room; however, Peter stayed unmoving at his desk, head still in hands. 

Ned slowly made his way over to him and set a hand on his shoulder. 

Peter recoiled from his touch letting out a slight whimper. 

“Sorry, man, but you’re not looking too good, and I think we should get you out of here. Do I need to call May?” Ned stood hovering a few inches above Peter, so not to make his pain worse. Peter quickly shook his head at that and let out a rather unconvincing “I’m fine” that sounded suspiciously more like a painful grunt.

“Alright man, but at least try to get up,” Ned tried.

After a moment, Peter consented and slowly rose from his desk. He curled in on himself as best he could as Ned grabbed his backpack and slowly ushered him from the room.

Peter’s head felt like it was submerged in water but burning at the same time. He couldn’t stop _feeling._ He just wanted it to stop. 

_Make it stop._

The entire world was spinning before him, and he couldn’t distinguish Ned’s alarmed voice from the pencil being sharpened down the hall. He couldn’t _think._ Everything was amplified, and he felt it _all._

Peter began shuffling from the room, head in hands in an attempt to block out the painful pulsing of the fluorescent lights. He hadn’t realized he had begun to list sideways until he felt a firm grip on his forearm and a loud “whoah there” from who he assumed to be Ned. He cringed at the tone but was grateful that Ned presumedly stopped his body from connecting with the tile.  
A few agonizing minutes later and Ned was gently pushing him into the bathroom. As soon as Peter’s back connected with the solid wall, he slid down to the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“Look, man, I’m sorry, but I’m gonna call May.” Ned attempted to whisper, but his voice still resulted in a wince from Peter. 

Peter’s head shook slowly as he tried to speak. “N-no.”

He didn’t want to bother May with a small problem like this. She worked too hard as it was.

Ned let out a sigh, “Peter, you’re clearly not okay; I have to call someone.”

Before Peter could protest again, his phone began to ring. Peter instantly recoiled and whimpered in pain at the loud shrill. At least it sounded like a loud shrill… Had his phone always sounded like this? 

A blunt “Crap” left Ned’s lips as he rummaged through his bag and pulled out the culprit. _Mr. Stark_ Flashed across the screen as Ned moved to answer it.

Peter only caught pieces of their conversation as he was actively shoving the palms of his hands over his ears. 

“Mr. Stark…yeah, I know…in pain…school bathroom…thank you” 

_Mr. Stark._

Mr. Stark could fix this. Mr. Stark could fix anything. He just wanted it to be _quiet._

Peter didn’t know how long he sat there on the too sticky, too dirty tile of the bathroom floor. Everything was jumbled inside his head, and he couldn’t _think straight._

_Make it stop. Please. Make it stop. Tony._

_Tony_

_Tony_

_Tony_

Then all at once, there was a cool hand running over his forehead, brushing away his sweat-soaked hair and coming to rest on his cheek. 

“-eter. Peter, can you hear me?” 

He knew that voice. _Tony._ Peter’s resolve instantly broke as he allowed himself to lean into the touch, practically launching himself at the older man.

“T’ny, you’re here.”

Tony adjusted his grip and pulled Peter into a slightly awkward hug. “Hey, kiddo. Yeah, it’s me.” Tony concern was instantly heightened as Peter whimpered at the sound of his voice, burying his head further into his mentor’s chest. 

Peter didn’t care if he looked like a child at the moment. Everything hurt. Everything was fuzzy. He fisted the front of Tony’s shirt trying to silently convey his pain.

“Peter, buddy, can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Peter only curled further into himself, and, consequently, further into Tony. 

“Make it Stop. _Please._ Please make it be quiet.”

Peter’s broken pleads tore Tony, and he continued to softly card a hand through the kid’s curls. He didn’t want to make it worse by speaking again, but he _needed_ to know what was wrong.

Tony glanced over at Ned helpless; Ned moved closer to whisper into his ear. 

“Any loud noise or bright noise is bothering him. I don’t know what’s up, but he seems to be in a lot of pain.” 

Realization dawned on Tony. He knew what this was. _Sensory overload._ Gosh, how could he have not instantly seen it? His spiderman heightened sentences could only be making this worse. 

Tony nodded to Ned and lowered his voice to be as quiet as possible, telling him he would get Peter out of here. Tony took one more glance at the folded up, sobbing teenager in his arms before carefully pulling off his suit jacket and draping it over Peter’s head. 

Peter felt the tension instantly begin to leave his body, and he let his body go lax against his mentor’s chest. Everything was still so _loud_ , but the shield from the fluorescent lights was a welcome relief. 

Tony’s voice was soft above him, “Alright, Pete. Let’s get you out of here, huh?”

A simple “M’kay” was all Peter could muster as Tony pulled the kid up and wrapped a shoulder around him. They were lucky everyone was in class as Tony led the oddly coat-cloaked kid through the halls and outside into the waiting car. 

Rather than assuming his usual position in the front passenger seat, Tony guided Peter into the back seat and slipped in after him.

The car door shut and Peter flinched so hard he practically jumped. 

Tony winced at the evident pain the kid was in and whispered soft apologies as he began shutting off any source of sound from in the car. After asking Happy to turn the radio off, he triggered the privacy setting in the car which blacked out all windows. Tony had that installed to avoid the press every now and then, and it proved to be especially useful now. As soon as the back seat was plunged in darkness and sounds removed, Peter listed sideways, straight towards Tony. 

“Whoa, kid.” 

Tony caught the kid in his arms, but Peter made no attempt to move. He was evidently e _xhausted._ The overestimation sure took it out of this kid. Tony resolved to slight shifting before he allowed the kid to lean fully on him. 

Peter couldn’t help the small sigh that escaped his lips as Tony began to run a hand through his hair, a repetitive and comforting motion. 

“How did you know something was up?” Peter peered up as his mentor owlishly. 

“How many times have I told you to stop wearing your suit under your clothes?” Tony gave Peter a quizzical look and chuckled slightly. 

“Oh.”

“Oh, is right, kid. F.R.I.D.A.Y. monitors your vitals remember?”

Tony looked down at the teenager still curled into him. Gosh, he loved this kid. 

“Next time please call me first, okay? Don’t make me find out from F.R.I.D.A.Y that your vitals are through the roof. You’re gonna give this old guy a heart attack.” 

Peter let out a small yawn. “You are getting pretty old.”

Tony scoffed but looked down at the kid with a fondness nonetheless. A couple of minutes of silence passed, and Tony thought the kid had finally drifted off to sleep until the exhaustion laced voice spoke up again.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark” Peter admitted sleepily, feeling bad for not only disrupting the billionaire but now practically drooling on him. He still has a headache, but his thoughts were a lot clearer now that things were quiet.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. I got you.” 

Peter hummed in response, allowing himself to slip off to sleep to the quiet and consistent thrum of his mentor’s heart. 

If later Peter found himself being carried into the Tower and laid across the couch it definitely _wasn’t_ Tony Stark. His mentor definitely _didn’t_ drape a blanket over his half-conscious form. And, even if it could be pinned on Peter’s exhausted and fatigued memory, Tony definitely _did not_ card a hand through his hair a couple of times before asking F.R.I.D.A.Y. to block out all light and sound from the room. 


	2. Neglected Health

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is great at looking out for others. Consequently, he's not so great at looking after himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm so sorry this chapter literally took for. freaking. ever. I'll try to be better at that...  
> First, I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for all the feedback and kudos on my first chapter. Y'all absolutely blew me away with all of your kind comments. I. Freaking. Love. All. Of. You. That being said, here's another chapter. Containing more fluff... SURPRISE.

_ Neglected Health  _

Peter struggled majorly trying to find the balance between being Spider-man with just being Peter. Between school, decathlon, his Stark internship, and patrolling as Spider-Man, Peter was _exhausted._ There was so much to do and not nearly enough time. Of course, he would never admit this, not even to himself. He was S _pider-Man._ Balancing everything would surely come with time. _Right?_

Wrong.

———————————————————

The blaring alarm clock startled Peter out of his dead sleep. He groaned as he turned over on his side and hit the snooze. 

Another five minutes passed when May’s voice cut through the air. “Peter, get up, or we’re going to be late!” 

Peter shot a groggy “Kay May!” before jumping out of bed a little too quickly. His feet got caught in the covers and sent him plummeting to the ground. 

_Dang. Apparently patrolling till 1 am then studying for another two hours last night was not the best idea._

Peter had been averaging about three hours of sleep a night for the past couple weeks, and it was finally starting to catch up to him. 

It’s not that he was purposefully avoiding sleep, he just got so wrapped up in whatever he was doing that he would push himself past the point of exhaustion. 

After grabbing a quick shower, Peter threw the books from last night’s study session into his backpack and burst into the kitchen. May was already halfway out the door, coffee in hand. 

_Coffee._

That’s what Peter needed. He had never liked the stuff very much, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He poured an unhealthy amount of sugar and cream into a thermos and dumped the hot, bitter liquid in after it. 

He made it to the car with one shoe on and the other in hand along with his coffee. The beverage would have to do for breakfast this morning otherwise he wasn’t going to make it to school on time. As soon as his seat buckle was clicked into place, May pulled out and headed directly for school. She had a later shift today and had offered to take Peter to school so he wouldn’t have to take the bus.

The coffee was bitter and thick down his throat, and his face scrunched up instinctively. May only laughed at him and made some comment about “your uncle Ben was the same way when I first convinced him to try coffee.” 

Lucky for Peter, May was too preoccupied with everything going on to notice the dark circles under his eyes and the way he slightly curled in on himself. 

Before he knew it, they were pulling up in front of Midtown. May gave him a quick kiss on the cheek which Peter shrugged off with a slight blush and a drawn out “Mayyyyyyy” before running up the steps to the door. 

The first couple periods went by as normal. Although tired, Peter forced himself to stay focused as he struggled to take coherent notes. By the time lunch rolled around he was sitting with Ned, head resting on the table. 

“Dude, are you okay?”

Peter turned his attention to his friend, yawning in the process, “Yeah, just had a long night.” 

Ned’s eyes widened in realization as he lowered his voice, “you mean, with _Spider-_ _Man_ stuff?”

“Yeah, Ned, Spider-Man stuff” Peter continued to pick at his half-eaten sandwich. He didn’t really have much of an appetite now; he just wanted to _sleep._

“That’s so cool. Did you stop any muggings? Robberies? Did you give another old lady directions? Have you gotten any new upgrades on your su—“ 

“Ned” Peter cut him off abruptly, quickly regretting the edge that laced his voice when a look of hurt flashed across Ned’s face. 

“I… sorry, man. I’m just really tired. I’ll tell you more about patrolling and” he lowered his voice “ _Spider-Man_ later, okay?”

Ned shrugged indifferently and gave him a nod, switching back to the subject of Star Wars. He was currently ranting about various theories the prequels could entail. If he was being honest, Peter was only half listening. 

Did that make him a sucky friend? Probably. 

He would just have to add “social life” to the ever-growing list of things he should be doing better. 

He just wanted to do _better._ Be _better._

If Mr. Stark knew he was struggling this much he might take the suit away again. Peter _needed_ the suit if he was going to help people. Being Spider-Man was so much easier with the suit. 

If he could hang on just a little bit longer; eventually he would learn how to balance being Peter Parker and Spider-Man. After all, he had things all under control. Right? 

———————————————————

As the day dragged on, Peter felt himself slowing more and more. His movements had become sluggish, and his senses were dulled. 

His last class let out, and he was projected forwardly merely by the thought of finally getting home and getting a little sleep before patrolling. 

Walking down the school steps, he was met with the familiar sight of a waiting black Audi. 

_Dang it._

Peter inwardly chastised himself for forgetting what day it was. He was supposed to go to the tower to work on suit upgrades with Tony today. 

_I guess that nap will have to wait._

He could make it just a couple more hours. If he crammed his study time, he could maybe get a small power nap in before he went out as Spider-Man 

He greeted Happy with a tired “hello” and climbed into the back. 

Happy, on the other hand, was surprised when he wasn’t greeted with the usual rants and energy the teenager usually catapulted at him the moment the door closed. 

The ride to the tower was quiet, the occasional small talk exchanged, accompanied by the low hum of the radio. 

By the time they pulled up to the enormous building, Peter’s eyes were drooping from where his head rested against the window. The sudden jolt of the stopped car startled him from his groggy state, and he instantly straightened, trying his best to look like he hadn’t been half asleep moments ago. 

Happy let him past security, and Peter headed straight towards the lab. 

Tony was already there, preoccupied with a device he was tinkering with. He didn’t look up when Peter entered but rather gestured for him to come over. “Hey kid, there you are. C’mere I wanna show you what I’ve been working on.” 

“Hi, Mr. Stark.” Peter’s voice came out a lot smaller than he intended. 

He tossed Peter the device in his hands, but his reflexes were sluggish, and it hit him in the chest before he fumbled with it and sent it clattering to the table. 

“What the—”

Peter looked horrified “I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark.” He quickly picked up the device, checking it over for damages before carefully placing it back on the table. 

It only took Tony a couple seconds of looking at Peter to take in the dark circles under his eyes and his slightly hunched posture. 

His initial annoyance was overtaken with concern. 

“You okay, kid?” Tony’s voice was more careful than before as he raised a questioning eyebrow. 

Peter fumbled for the right words before replying “Wha—yeah uh, everything is fine. 100%. Never been better.” 

“Mhmmm” Tony regarded skeptically. 

Peter shrugged him off and moved passed him further into the workshop, depositing his backpack into the corner as he went. 

He tried to ease the awkward tension that had recently enveloped the room. “So uh. Should we get started? I don’t know exactly what you were planning to do—” Peter tried to lean nonchalantly on the table next to him but leaned a bit too far and stumbled into the table, barely catching himself “—Suit upgrades?” 

Tony chuckled at the kid’s evident uneasiness and gestured to a table, splayed with various tools and gadgets.”I figured we could work on your web shooters. There are a couple new options I wanted to install.” 

Tony didn’t take his eye’s off the kid as he surveyed the equipment in front of him. 

Something was definitely off “Sure you’re okay? You look beat.” 

Peter knew it was no use trying to lie to his mentor, so he decided to minimize the truth as best as possible “Just a little tired.”

“How much sleep have you been getting.”

_Uh oh_

Peter cringed “Enough.”

“Peter” Tony’s tone was warning but surprisingly gentle. 

“I dunno three or four hours.” 

Tony’s parental alarms started blaring. “What?” he questioned exasperated. 

Peter just shrugged indifferently taking a sudden interest in the floor tiles.

“Have you been eating?”

“Yeah, some”

“Some?”

“At least one or two meals a day.”

Tony couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Sure the kid seemed a little out of it lately, but he had assumed it was just a typical teenage funk or girl trouble. 

“Peter” The teenager shifted uneasily under the tone of his mentor’s voice. “You know you have a faster metabolism than most people. You should be eating at least three times that amount. And you _know_ how important sleep is, especially with your enhanced senses.” 

Peter nodded shakily. “I know, I know. I really didn’t mean to, honest. I just— there was so much to do, and I didn’t have enough time. I’m sorry Mr. Stark. I know I should be able to balance all of this because I’m _Spider-Man._ I know I’m not good enough; I just—I wanted to be _better._ ”

Tony’s resolve crumbled at those words 

“Please don’t take away the suit.” Peter’s voice was timid and thick with emotion.

Frustrated tears were brimming in his eyes, and he was embarrassed that he was breaking down in front of _Tony Stark._

Tony must have noticed too because the next moment he was being enveloped in warm, steady arms. Peter allowed himself to dissolve under the embrace and sink into his mentor’s chest, his exhaustion induced tears saturating the older man’s shirt. 

A firm hand came to rest on the back of his head, and Peter felt Tony’s chest vibrate as he spoke his next words. 

“Kid, listen. You _are_ good enough. You’re so _so_ good. Better than I’ll ever be, in fact.” Tony let out a forced chuckle at that. “But _listen_ you can’t help anyone if you’re not getting any sleep. You _have_ to take care of yourself first, Peter.” 

Peter nodded against Tony’s chest and finally pulled away, wiping the tears from his eyes. 

“Everything _,_ even Spiderman comes only _after_ you take care of yourself, okay?” He ruffled the kid’s hair and Peter nodded, finally meeting Tony’s eyes. 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sta—”

Tony cut him off. “Hey, hey none of that. Just promise me that from now on, you’ll be finished with patrolling _and_ homework by midnight.” 

Peter looked like he was about to protest but Tony raised a challenging eyebrow, and Peter simply nodded in compliance. 

Tony sighed. Dang, he loved this kid. Peter turned his gaze back to the floor before Tony spoke again. “Oh and, kid.” Peter met his gaze once more. “How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Tony. ‘Mr. Stark’ makes me sound like some old guy.”

Peter opened his mouth, but before he could quip back, Tony clapped a hand on his shoulder. “What do you say we ditch working on the suit for the night and watch a movie or something?”

Peter was _ecstatic._ He looked up at his mentor with wide eyes. “Really? Can we?” Tony smirked in amusement, and Peter quickly cleared his throat in an attempt to sound a little less excited that freaking _Iron Man_ just offered to watch a movie with him. “I mean… Yeah, yeah that could be cool. Ya know… if you want.” 

Tony just chuckled and led the kid out of the lab into the common room. 

The two ended up ordering pizza and crashing on the couch to watch _Independence Day_ which Tony deemed to be “one of the greatest alien movies of all time.” 

Not 20 minutes into the movie Tony felt a weight slowly settle onto his shoulder. He looked down to find the teenager sleeping heavily. Tony pushed back a stray curl that had fallen in his face and shifted slightly to accommodate him better before focusing back on the movie. 

Yep. This kid had him wrapped around his finger. Did Tony give a crap? Not really. 

The end credits rolled, and Peter began to shift awake. 

His pillow was warm, solid, and _moving?_

Peter started awake, sitting up quickly. He would have fallen right off the couch if Tony hadn’t grabbed him forearm and steadied him. 

“Whoa. Mr. Stark?” Peter rubbed the sleep from his eyes before peering up at his mentor. 

“Oh dang. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I’m really sorry Mr.—” Tony gave him a quizzical look “—uh Tony.” 

Tony chuckled “Don’t sweat it, kid. There’s a guest room right down the hall to the left. I already contacted May and told her you were staying the night.” 

“Oh, you don’t have to. I don’t want to be a bother I could just go h—”

“Peter, you already decided to take a nap on my couch for an hour. I’m pretty sure you won’t intrude by staying in the _guest_ bedroom. Funny thing, those rooms… made for _guests.”_

Peter gave a tired laugh as Tony directed him to the guest room before bidding him a goodnight.

“Thanks, Tony… for everything.” Peter looked up at him sheepishly.

Gosh, this kid melted him. 

“Anytime, kiddo.”

Realization suddenly dawned on Peter’s face, and he started fidgeting nervously. “I uh… I was going to go out as Spider-Man tonight.” Peter twisted the hem of his shirt, neglecting to hide the yawn that laced the last half of his sentence. 

Tony took one look at the kid “Yeah. Uh no. There will be plenty of time for that later. Go to bed.” 

Peter looked almost _thankful,_ and Tony made a mental note to check up on him more often.

Any awkwardness dissolved the second Peter saw the bed. It looked incredibly soft and inviting and, by the time his head hit the pillow, he was out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! *Finger guns out*  
> Also, if there's any specific scenarios y'all want to see in future installments of this fic please let me know!


End file.
